Cutting Off the Serpent's Head: Tightening Control in Tibet, 1994-1995

Political repression in Tibet has increased sharply since 1994, and there are now more political prisoners in custody there than at any time in the last six years. The increased repression is the result of a new tibet policy announced in 1994 by the Chinese government that has led to tighter internal security in Tibet, longer sentences for political offenses, increased control over monasteries and nunneries, a demand for declarations of loyalty from thousands of Tibetans, intensified political education in schools, and more detentions. Over 230 Tibetans were detained for political offenses in 1995, a 50 percent increase over the year before, bringing the total now believed in custody to over 600.

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Page 107 - forced or compulsory labour" shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.

Page 107 - ... (a) as a means of political coercion or education or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system...

Page 67 - ... religious rituals of Buddhism. If his words are followed, Tibetan Buddhism will be led onto a path of going against the interests of the people and the laws of the country, thereby endangering its due position and future in Chinese society. Therefore, what the Dalai has done is not for love of Tibet and love of religion as he has advertised; but, on the contrary, is an out-and-out calamity for Tibet and religion. Only by adopting a clear-cut stand in waging a struggle against the Dalai clique...

Page 78 - Political Prisoners" in China In China, ideas alone, in the absence of action which violates the criminal law, do not constitute a crime; nobody will be sentenced to punishment merely because he holds dissenting political views. So-called political prisoners do not exist in China. In Chinese Criminal Law "counter-revolutionary crime...

Page 168 - ... the Individual is subordinate to the organization,, the minority is subordinate to t'he majority, the lower level Is subordinate to the higher level, and the entire party is subordinate to "the central committee.

Page 67 - Dalai's behaviour has not only run counter to the fundamental interests of the people of the whole country, including the people of Tibet, but also runs counter to the dignified and deeply-felt religious rituals of Buddhism.

Page 107 - ... communal services of a kind which, being performed by the members of the community in the direct interest of the said community, can therefore be considered as normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community, provided that the members of the community or their direct representatives shall have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services. Article 3 For the purposes of this Convention the term "competent authority shall mean either an authority of the...